Isabelle Olsson

In the last few weeks, as crisp breezes have brought way to the bright colors of falling leaves there has been a lot of change in the air especially at Common Art. While group members have continued to adjust to the altered art materials and structure due to pandemic related protocol, Common Art has also been blessed with wonderful changes including new staffing and interns! Nevertheless, with all  these changes afoot I have noticed a lot of anxiety amongst group members especially about the upcoming winter and presidential election. After all, change can be quite difficult and, as a group, they have experienced quite a lot of trauma. All of these changes left me feeling inspired when it came time to bring my first activity to the group. Finding my theme in the many changing leaves I began to see each morning I came up with the idea of doing leaf rubbings with group members using various leaves I collected and colored pencils. My hope was that in creating beautiful prints of the leaves we could all take a moment to enjoy the meditative process of rubbing the leaves and appreciate the beauty in this part of something that is a change…and of course to tap into some of the group’s noticeable fall festivity!

Leading up to the activity I collected plenty of leaves and found myself both excited and nervous. What if nobody would want to participate at the leaf rubbing station? Did I come up with a good enough activity? What if nobody enjoys the activity? Yet when the day came, many were excited about the leaves. As the activities started, folks slowly started to engage with the leaves and before I knew it, we had some beautiful leaf rubbings coming along! It was a lovely time as we all experimented with different pencil pressures and colors to bring out the beauty of the leaves. What really surprised me about this activity, though, was the way that the leaves inspired everyone to create different projects. I would have thought or hoped that more actual leaf rubbing would have taken place but it was surprising and beautiful to see folks use the leaves as inspiration for a watercolor piece, or trace a leaf into a drawing, and more. This change to what I had in mind was a welcome reminder of the unpredictability of art and creativity. At the end of the program day, community members expressed appreciation for the leaf rubbing activity and I left Common Art feeling strong about the ways this activity helped me to engage with the community and build relationships. Now that I have my first activity in the books, I look forward to exploring more with the community.